A Revolution Gone Backward: The Black Response to National Politics, 1876-1896

While newly liberated American blacks were relatively free to participate in the nation's political life during the decade following the Civil War, with the end of Reconstruction and the withdrawal of federal protection, constitutional guarantees quickly were curtailed. In this analysis of the beginnings of black political development, Beatty examines the aftermath of Reconstruction through the eyes of a people who found their rights, liberties, and hopes stalemated in a "revolution gone backward."